The Part 1 of this piece looked at the meaning of career development for mid- and senior level career positions. This Part 2 will delve into entry level career positions mostly for graduates, persons launching into the world of work or into new areas of work experience. In the 3rd Part, we will look at career development as a tool for your personal growth.
Entry Level Career Development
Like we already mentioned in Part 1, your career is what you do to earn your daily living, so developing that needs to be gradual, consistent and continuous, in one way or the other, across one’s lifetime.
To kick off your career development at an entry level, it is important to keep this in mind – that education never stops; one must keep learning. In fact, the real education for life begins after you set out of a formal institution and face the issues and challenges of a working life. This is when you must engage yourself even in more studies and learning in line with your chosen area of interest, passion, work or career.
In this light, you then see that when graduates leave higher institution, rejoicing and dancing, with the mind-set that they are done with book work, that in itself, shows that the supposed learning and education did not take place in-depth. They simply passed through the school and the school did not pass through them.
Yes, not everyone is meant to be an intellectual and not everyone has that natural flair for study. However, even an artisan, a technical person or a carpenter, for example, must take upon himself or herself the responsibility to keep learning and developing him/herself within that field of practice. The point here is that a graduate who understands what learning is will instinctively know that at graduation, the learning has only just begun.
It is understood that as a fresh graduate you might not immediately have a job.. Yet, this is also largely attributed to what you did or did not do while in school and how you used your time even while in the university.
After Graduation, What Next?
There are students in the university who from year one or year two begin asking themselves this question, “After graduation, what next?” Now, this is one of the wisest questions you can ask yourself in your first and second year of college or university. Such students have gone ahead to develop a skill while they studied. This could be in tailoring, beadmaking, Makeup, carpentry, electrical works, generator repairs, shoemaking, Public Speaking, sales/marketing experience, and other entrepreneurial ventures in line with their interest or passion. This student who is already developing a skill s/he loves is beginning to respond to that question, “After graduation, what next?”
Your guess is as good as mine that when such a student graduates, s/he has already developed something to fall back to or to continue with immediately after graduation. And this is an important part of your career development at an entry level.
In the meantime, such a student might look like s/he is too serious with life. Yet, they would be making far better choices for their career development rather than partying away, spending lavishly, traveling to places from school, not attending classes, hooking up with the bad guys and engaging in many other social vices happening in the university.
A student who keeps the above question in mind will make choices very different from another student who does not seek ways to respond to that question, that is if they even ask themselves at all.
There are also well-focused students who set out to be entrepreneurs even while in school. They do their study, but also juggle that with some side business/hustle (something you are proud of, not otherwise). Others get into diverse networks that give them volunteering opportunities where they get to learn, get exposed to ideas and acquire skills. In the course of such volunteering work, there have been those who get part-time employment and they begin to acquire work experience, even while in school.
As a field researcher, when I go out to talk to university students, I ask them this question: “Are you unemployed, part-time employed, self-employed or do small jobs?” Some students give one the impression that it is their prerogative to be unemployed because they are studying. Now such students are still burying their head in the sand, and we hope they realize their mistake before it gets late.
As an important step in your career development, take up a part-time job, be self-employed, learn a skill you love, or join a team that will help you develop your passion, get involved in leadership that is positively beneficial to the student community not a leadership sought for purely selfish reasons, and take up initiatives within the school community that gives you opportunity to make some impact.
So, as you strive to practically respond to that question, “After graduation, what next?”, you will find that the actions you take in that regard will eventually become your first bridge between graduation day and the next phase of your life.
Do not wait to graduate before you begin to ask yourself this question, or before you begin to fast and pray, or before you begin to disturb people for money or for job. God has given you a good and intelligent mind. You can begin to work out your future by the choices you make earlier in preparation.
Working It Out at Entry Level
Developing your career at entry level of work or a new area of work experience requires having the right dispositions and the right attitude. Begin by knowing what exactly you want. Then, you must be open and willing to learn. Pay attention to your behaviours, inter-personal and social skills, non-verbal communications, social ethics, and work ethics.
A very important part of launching out a career at entry level is around your personal VALUES and PRINCIPLES. Do you have any, or anything goes? As you reach out to follow the career path you want, arm yourself with values and principles you cherish and live by. As you go along, these will be tested, and your response will have an impact on your career development.
Tips for Early Career Development
You can have a look at the tips for career development shared in the Part 1 of this article. However, there are other peculiarities for an entry level career. You may not get the exact position, work conditions or remuneration that you desire. However, you must keep in mind that you are building a foundation that you would need to work upon for tomorrow.
As important as earning is, the primary question at this stage should be, “What am I learning today that would develop me towards the heights I want to achieve?” not, “How much is the salary?” Then when you have added much value to yourself by learning and building your capacity, you will naturally get to a point where you can bargain for the amount you want in a position.
(To be continued – in Part 3)